


What's This Between Us?

by peacenik_jesus



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 22:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17252897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacenik_jesus/pseuds/peacenik_jesus
Summary: Based off a prompt given to me on Tumblr. Aaron and Jesus explore the chemistry between them.





	What's This Between Us?

“Gracie learned a new word last week,” Aaron announced as Jesus pinned a walker under his boot and Aaron speared its brain.

Paul looked at him curiously as Aaron pulled the spear back out and leaned against it casually.

“Shit.”

“Someone’s been swearing,” Jesus teased with a laugh.

“One time!” Aaron countered, holding up his index finger for a visual aid, and only getting a harder laugh in response. “I dropped something on the floor and broke it, thought I muttered it quietly enough, but immediately I hear this tiny little ‘shit’ from behind me. I told her ‘shit’ wasn’t something we should say and that Daddy should put himself in time out for saying it, figuring that would be the end of it…”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t.” Jesus smirked, stabbing the top of the head of another walker and looking over his shoulder at Aaron.

“Barbara was over the next day to watch her,” Aaron said with an exaggerated sigh. “Gracie dropped her sippy cup, and…”

“‘Shit.’” Jesus laughed, guessing what the toddler had said.

“Of course.”

“It could have been worse,” Paul mused. “You could have said ‘Fuck me’ instead.”

Though Aaron knew which connotation of the phrase Paul meant, he could still feel his cheeks grow hot just hearing those words from the other man’s lips.

For several months now, the two had casually flirted when out on herd duty together, but neither had made any indication that they wanted to take things any further. Aaron had never been certain if Paul was just bantering with him, teasing him, or if there was genuine interest. Hell, even he didn’t know just how he felt about trying to pursue something with Jesus. The younger man was beautiful, adorable, funny, and a great companion and partner on missions, but was Aaron ready for something more? He hadn’t really entertained the idea since Eric had died…not until recently, and not with anyone other than Paul.

Before Aaron could say anything, and before Paul could sense his discomfort, thunder boomed in the near distance, signalling an oncoming storm. Both men looked over the treeline at the dark clouds creeping closer. Lightning forked across the sky, creating a dazzling flash of light.

“Damn,” Paul wiped the blade of his knife on the leg of his pants before sheathing the weapon and moving towards the horses who were beginning to spook. “I’d kill for a weather app to predict when storms were going to roll in.”

Aaron couldn’t help but laugh, following close behind the other man and securing his spear to the holder on his saddle before mounting up. “Alexandria is closer; if we hurry, we might make it back before the sky opens up.”

Jesus nodded, mounting his own horse, and the two set off in a gallop towards Aaron’s community.

They were three miles out when the rain started, cold fat drop that came like a trickle at first, then turned into a complete drenching downpour with no end in sight. There were a few times Paul could feel how close the lightning strikes were, and he was relieved when the gates came into view.

The two dismounted, allowing the stable hands to collect their horses, and made their way towards Aaron’s house at a less hurried pace, knowing a little more water wasn’t going to make much difference now that they were soaked.

“Stay here tonight,” Aaron offered. “This isn’t letting up anytime soon, and even if it did, it’d be dark before you made it back to Hilltop.”

“Thanks. As much as I hate to inconvenience you, there were a few times I was pretty sure we were about to get struck by lightning, and I’m not eager to push my luck by venturing out again.”

“It’s not an inconvenience,” Aaron clapped him on the shoulder, ushering him up the front steps. “You can take a hot shower if you want. I’ll find some dry clothes for you. Although…” he playfully sized the other man up. “They might swallow you whole.”

Jesus laughed giving Aaron a playful shove as he followed the other man inside. “Ha. Ha.”

No sooner were they across the threshold, did they hear a voice shout “Dada!” and the pitter patter of bare feet on hardwood as Gracie toddle-ran to Aaron. Though he was sopping wet, Aaron scooped her into his arms attacking her face with kisses and making the small girl giggle, her tiny hands pushing at his face.

“Gracie, do you remember Daddy’s friend, Jesus?”

“Jezsuz,” she struggled with a confident nod, though Paul doubted the girl truly remembered him from the few encounters they’d had.

“That’s right,” Aaron praised, kissing her cheek. “Jezsuz is going to stay with us tonight because it’s raining outside and it’s too far for him to go home.”

Paul laughed as Aaron intentionally muddled the pronunciation of this nickname, then noticed the woman in the living room, quietly watching the exchange. He nodded to her and she nodded back before rising to collect Gracie from Aaron so that the two men could change out of their wet clothes.

They kicked off their wet shoes and socks by the front door, then Paul followed Aaron upstairs, shivering with cold. “You look like a drowned rat,” he mused, quietly laughing at Aaron’s wet curls and beard.

“Have you looked in a mirror, Fievel ?” Aaron chuckled. Leading Paul to his bedroom, he dug through his drawers to find a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, handing them both to the shorter man. “Knock yourself out with the shower. I’ll wash up after you. There’s clean towels in the linen closet next to the vanity. If you need anything else, feel free to dig around for it.”

“Thanks,” Paul told him sincerely, accepting the dry clothes and slipping into the bathroom.

Not wanting to waste all the hot water, Paul quickly showered, washing his hair and soaping down before he climbed out and dried off. Picking up the t-shirt from where it rested on the vanity, he slipped it over his head, immediately encased in Aaron’s scent. A small smile pulled at his lips and he lifted the neck of the tee to his nose, inhaling gently.

A sense of longing filled his core, and he immediately had to knock the feeling back. His crush on Aaron was eventually going to get him in trouble despite the fact that the man seemed to enjoy their playful banter. As much as Paul liked him, he still felt weird about pursuing a relationship with a man who had lost his partner only a year ago. It was simply too soon, and Aaron had other priorities, like his daughter, to worry about.

Tugging on the sweatpants, Paul looked down at the excess length that hung over his feet like flippers, laughing softly with a shake of his head. There was no way Aaron would miss the opportunity to razz him about that. He tried hiking the pants up so they’d be the appropriate length, but only ended up looking like Urkel, so he pulled them back down to his hips and tried to arrange the length so it would stay above his ankles. It wouldn’t. Giving up, Paul focused on something else, looking through the drawers until he found a comb. He brushed it through his damp locks, cleaned the strands of hair from the teeth of the comb, and replaced it in the drawer. Once he was finished, he found his way back downstairs.

Aaron was mucking about the kitchen, working on dinner–still in his soaking wet clothes–when Paul entered, offering to help. The taller man eyed him with amusement, chewing on a piece of fresh mint. “You really are Fievel. Just need a big floppy hat.”

“Keep it up, Fromo.” Paul narrowed his eyes playfully.

Aaron laughed, and instructed Paul on what to do with dinner so that he could shower and change his clothes. As he disappeared upstairs, Aaron couldn’t help but smile at how damn adorable Jesus was in his clothes. He was…fun-sized. Shorter than Eric had been, with a small frame that was much more defined than Eric’s. Aaron had loved the ginger with all his heart, but even when his partner had been alive, he’d stolen more than a few looks at Paul’s ass. He and Eric had even had a conversation about how good looking Paul was. The long hair hadn’t been Eric’s thing, but he had agreed it suited Jesus.

He shook the thoughts from his head, his feelings starting to get murky once again. Jesus was a friend, that was it. Wasn’t it?

By the time he was out of the shower, Aaron was no closer to answering that question than he’d been for the last few months. Thankfully, when he returned downstairs, he had Gracie as a distraction to his thoughts, thought it didn’t escape him how good Paul was with her and how taken she seemed to be with the other man.

As the evening grew later, and the rain still refused to let up, Jesus watched Aaron try and soothe a fussy Gracie until he finally gave up and took her to bed earlier than her usual time. The man was a natural with his daughter, and anyone would have to be made of solid ice not to melt a little at the sight of them together.

Stepping out on the porch to watch the rain and wait for Aaron to put his daughter down for the night, Jesus perched on the swing hanging from the rafters. Thunder roiled and lightning lit up the darkened sky, wind billowed through the tree in Aaron’s front yard, making the leaves rustle and branches creak. He knew if he were back at Hilltop, the rain would be hammering down on the roof of his trailer, and was probably currently leaking in through the skylight. Paul closed his eyes, listening to the storm as he gently swayed back and forth.

“I do not envy the journey you have back to Hilltop tomorrow,” Aaron’s voice drew his attention and he opened his eyes in time to see the other man sit next to him, opening his palm to offer Jesus a sunflower seed.

Jesus plucked one from the small pile and sucked on the shell. “The roads are going to be a mess.”

“You can stay here until it dries up…if you want.”

“Maggie’s probably already organizing a search party,” he laughed softly. “I should radio in first thing in the morning. Make sure she knows I’m not stuck out there in this mess.”

Just as Jesus made to spit his sunflower seed over the rail, a gust of wind blew a lock of hair in front of his face, and he spat the sunflower seed into it by accident. He made a noise of disgust, holding the offending lock of hair out so he could untangle the seed from it, with Aaron dying of laughter next to him. “Hazards of long hair. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve had to do this with gum.”

“Yeah, I hate when that happens,” Aaron teased, reaching over to help Jesus fish the shell from his hair and flicking it over the rail.

“I feel disgusting now,” Paul laughed softly, his cheeks tinging pink.

“I could spit in your hair, too, if it’d make you feel better.”

“Y’know…somehow, it wouldn’t.”

Aaron laughed, looking over at the other man. Their gazes met and locked, an invisible spark passing between them. Aaron found himself focusing on Paul’s plump, pink lower lip with the overwhelming desire to nibble it, and nearly groaned when Paul’s tongue flicked out to wet it. The words were pushing themselves out of his mouth before he could think about whether or not to voice the question, “What’s this between us? Is there something there or have I been imagining it?”

Paul was surprised by the question, though he probably shouldn’t have been. He searched Aaron’s eyes, trying to glean if it was something Aaron wanted or didn’t want, but the way the man had just been looking at him left little doubt. “I don’t know…but you’re not imagining it.”

Aaron flicked the sunflower shell from his mouth over the rail, and tossed the rest of the seeds into the grass before he rested his arm across the back of the swing, his body turning towards Paul as the other man turned slightly towards him.

Another gust of wind blew Jesus’ hair into his face, and both men laughed, simultaneously reaching up to push it back. Aaron tucked the strands behind Paul’s ear, smirking adoringly as he caressed the tip of his ear. “You really do make an adorable Fievel.”

“Don’t ruin the moment,” Jesus chuckled softly, batting the man’s hand away from his ear and self-consciously untucking his hair to hide it.

“Don’t…” Aaron argued softly, catching Paul’s wrist and pulling his hand away before retucking the strands and caressing the shell again. “I like your ears.”

Jesus felt his entire body tingling pleasantly, their eyes searching one anothers longingly. “Moment’s back…”

With a rueful smile, Aaron’s hand slid into Paul’s hair and cupped the back of his head, urging him forward and speaking in a soft murmur. “Want to see if we can make the moment even better?”

“I don’t think it’s possible,” Paul teased in an equally soft murmur, his eyes slowly closing as their mouths neared.

“Wanna bet on that?” Aaron breathed against his lips, hovering just millimeters away.

“Nope,” he started to grin, but stopped when Aaron closed the distance between them and claimed his lips in a tender, albeit passionate, kiss. Paul couldn’t remember the last time he’d been kissed so sweetly and so deeply simultaneously, and he never wanted to be kissed by anyone else ever again. Playfully, Paul sucked on the other man’s tongue, eliciting a soft moan, and Aaron’s teeth gently grazed his lower lip before he pulled back slightly breathless.

“This might be way too soon, but…would you like to come upstairs with me?”

Heart beating wildly in his chest, Paul leaned in again to to claim another kiss before he murmured his answer against Aaron’s lips. “Yes.”

“Yes it’s too soon, or yes you will?”

“Probably both, but I meant the latter.”

The two laughed softly, then exchanged another passionate embrace before Aaron linked their fingers together and stood, pulling Paul up next to him. “I have introduced myself, right?” He kidded with a mock-serious expression.

Jesus snapped his fingers as if trying to recall his name. “Starts with an ‘A’ doesn’t it? Allen?”

Aaron offered a shrug. “Close enough.”

Paul laughed as he was tugged inside, adoring Aaron’s playfulness just as much as the rest of him, and eagerly anticipating everything else that was to come…

FIN


End file.
